The facts of the case strongly illustrate that a personal injury claim should be made against the 'other driver' on the client's behalf.

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Q2(a)

Legal Practice I

LA266

The facts of the case strongly illustrate that a personal injury claim should be made against the ‘other driver’ on the client’s behalf.

“…in legal terms, a personal injury is where a person, company or some other organisation is to blame (at least partly) for your injuries.  They may have been ‘negligent’, which means the person or organisation did not take proper care in the way something was: done; made; or repaired.”

Before a claim can be made, a number of documents need to be looked at and prepared.  It must be noted at this early stage however, that the limitation date must be noted.  Generally, under s.11 of The Limitation Act 1980, the claimant has three years to make a claim.  The period runs either from (i) The date on which the cause of action accrued or (ii) The date (if later) of the claimant’s knowledge.  As the client sustained her injuries through a road traffic accident, she would need to produce the other driver’s car and insurance information.  Also, a letter needs to be sent to the police station who dealt with the accident callout in order to obtain the accident report.  Also, any CCTV footage or photographs of the accident scene, would be useful if available.  The client would need to produce the medical bills which she acquired for the injuries sustained due to the accident.  The expenditure would be added to the damages claimed at a later stage.  It must be noted that, even if the client is on the NHS, a bill would nevertheless be sent to her for emergency hospital treatment because she would be claiming personal injury damages.  A medical report would also be needed, which would served with the particulars of claim.  The name of the hospital where the client underwent treatment must be included and the name of the consultant/s that dealt with the treatment/s.  

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The next stage is to prepare the claim form.  The general claim form for civil proceedings is N1.  The claim form would set out “(a) …the names and addresses of the respective parties, (b) give a concise statement of the nature of the claim, (c) state the remedy sought and (d) contain a statement of value where the claim is for money”.

To fulfil criteria (d), it must be stated whether the award of damages for pain, suffering and loss of amenity would be higher or lower than £1,000.  In the case instant, the injuries sustained by the ...

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